Heroes - One of Us, One of Them

Of all the special abilities on Heroes: regeneration, flight, invisibility, time travel, super human strength, super human speed, telepathy, etc., the most amazing is that of the writers: the ability to turn a bad guy into a good guy.

I thought Sylar was laid to rest at the end of season one. Maybe his continuance on the series was the plan all along, maybe the fact Zachary Quinto is a charismatic hottie had something to do with it. But the plan this season seems to be to take the mean and vicious killer and turn him into a warm and fuzzy hero. As Mommie Dearest Angela said to Noah Bennet, "He's been misunderstood. He just needs structure."

Like he's in pre-school and acting out!

So she sets Sylar up to partner with Noah to catch the baddies. And Sylar does save Noah from certain death from the trap the villains had set for him. Okay, he also slices open Jesse's skull to get his sound wave ability, but a little backsliding to be expected. (At least Future Peter rescued Present Peter from being trapped in Jesse's body before that happened and whisked him off to the future to show him why he tried to kill Nathan.) If the previews for next week are to be believed, Sylar's become positively domesticated. I bet he even does needlepoint!

Heroes has a thing with pair-ups: Noah and Sylar, Future Peter with Present Peter, Hiro and Ando (although that partnership is starting to fray) and Matt with Usutu, the tribal guy who also possesses Isaac Mendez-like painting the future powers. Although Usutu's power seems to be limited to painting Matt Parkman's future. Which is also interesting given the fact that it appeared Parkman wouldn't survive season one either...

At least the writers found another way to incorporate the artwork of Tim Sales back into the series.

The Haitian is none too pleased with Noah's new sidekick. "Am I being replaced?" he asks Bennet. Bennet tells him it's only temporary--until he finds Sylar's weakness. "And then I'm going to kill him," he tells the Haitian. That is, if Claire doesn't get to Sylar first. She's out for vengeance after what he did to her.

The most intriguing storyline was Tracy Strauss, the Niki Sanders look-alike. She tracks Niki down to New Orleans in order to try and figure out what their connection might be. Unfortunately, Niki's in a casket having not survived the warehouse explosion from last season's finale. But Tracy comes face-to-face with Micah who almost mistakes her for his Mom. Using his ability to talk to machines, Micah finds the connection between Niki and Tracy: they were both born in the same hospital on the same day delivered by the same doctor.

Now wait a minute--wasn't Niki already a twin? Her sister, Jessica, died at the hands of their abusive father and later became the basis for Niki's alter ego. When Tracy tracks down Dr. Zimmerman, he recognizes her--but calls her "Barbara." When she corrects him, he remembers saying "Beverly Hills." "I created you," he tells her.

So, Niki and Tracy are clones. And there's a Barbara somewhere out there as well. Wonder what her power is...